


Morphing Through Time

by amethyst-noir (Arbonne)



Series: Ironstrange Bingo 2020 Collection (Round 2) [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, IronStrange Bingo 2020, Light Angst, M/M, Muteness, Telepathic Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22861237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir
Summary: A telepathic bond with a few chosen people - friends - hadn't been on his radar back then but it was so much better than the true silence he'd been caught in before.(The first chapter is pure Gen between Stephen and TAO; the second chapter features Stephen's friendship with Wong and the first kiss between Stephen and Tony.)
Relationships: Ancient One & Stephen Strange, Stephen Strange & Wong, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Ironstrange Bingo 2020 Collection (Round 2) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1636018
Comments: 26
Kudos: 152
Collections: IronStrange Bingo 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is based on two lovely asks I received:
> 
> mistressstrange asked: _Prompt: TAO and Stephen gardening together._
> 
> doctor-cube asked: _Could you please please please write more mute Stephen? I would loooove to see this Stephen’s reaction to the ancient one’s death and the aftermath of Dormammu. I think it would be such a fun read. This Stephen is so much more fragil- I imagined him underweight too- and I think would react more extremely to the events._ 💚💚💚
> 
> @ironstrangebingo Round 2: _Friends to Lovers_
> 
> I'm once again at the point where I delight in throwing various prompts from my inbox and a square from the bingo card together, mix and stir, and post whatever comes out of it. Sometimes the result is very unexpected but, I hope, enjoyable. Thank you so much for the lovely prompts, @mistressstrange and @doctor-cube - I hope you're not too disappointed that I put them together. 🤍
> 
> This little tale is a direct sequel to [The Cross of Changes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20696987), so it might be helpful to read that before. The important difference to canon is that here Stephen's throat got cut during his accident, resulting in massive scarring and the loss of his voice. Thanks to magic he can talk telepathically to selected people.
> 
> The title, just like for the first one, is taken from an Enigma song.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen's growing relationship with the Ancient One.

Her hands were warm and gentle on the trembling, scarred ruin of his. Stephen just stared at her face, unwilling to look down and see what was happening.

"Have you done the exercises I showed you?" she asked and Stephen nodded miserably, once again regretting his inability to say what he was thinking.

 _Yes_ , he wanted to shout. _I've done all the stupid things you told me to do while your guard dog stood watch over me and laughed at my pain._

No, that was unfair. This Mordo guy - call me Karl, he'd told Stephen, a second before he almost sank into the ground because of embarrassment - had actually tried to help him with a surprising amount of patience and calm. Afterwards, the guy called Wong had given him some not-so-light reading and showed him how to handle the ancient books correctly while still being mindful of his hands. The non-nonsense approach to his physical disability as well as his muteness was a breath of fresh air after months of being coddled and treated like an invalid. His hearing and his brain were still in perfect working condition, thank you very much, but the inability to communicate his thoughts was slowly but surely killing him.

"Don't," the strange - pun _full_ intended - woman told him when he touched the scar on his throat with his free hand. "What's done is done and we must rebuild from what's left." She carefully took this hand as well and held on to both of them.

Stephen just knew that he had no chance of getting out of that grip, no matter how deceptively gentle and loose it was. 

"I thought that you must be bored of old books and Karl's therapy by now. I always found gardening rather soothing and it gives your hands something new to do." She smiled and traced the biggest of the scars on his right hand with a light touch. "I know that it must be hard to not be able to make yourself understood but let me assure you that there are ways to help you with that." Her smile vanished and instead of a normal - if bald - women she suddenly looked like she really deserve the name 'The Ancient One'. 

Stephen shivered, despite being in the warm sunshine.

"But first you must rebuild your strength and your dexterity. When you've done that we can talk about other things." The smile was back but it was tinged with sadness. "We _will_ talk, really talk, you can be sure of that. But first…" She put his hands down onto the earth and he tried to curl his fingers around a stone by instinct the moment his fingers encountered it. "No." She caught and restrained him before he could grab on to hard and hurt himself. "No holding, not yet. Just feeling. Today we're not doing anything else. Tomorrow you'll graduate to plants. I'll make a gardener out of you, I think you'll like it."

 _What the fuck am I supposed to do with plants?_ he wanted to ask but tried to keep his face impassive. She was trying to help him, after all, and he was grateful for the shelter she had given him so far. If a little bit of playing in the dirt was the price he had to pay for bed, shelter, company and the hope of some amount of healing he was more than willing to pay it.

Her laugh sounded light like a little girl's. The woman was a mass of contradictions and seemed to delight in confusing Stephen every way she could. 

"Don't think. _Feel_ ," she told him, firmly bringing his wandering thoughts back on track.

He concentrated on the feel of warm and slightly moist earth between his fingers. After a few moments he took his second hand and buried it in it as well, sneaking a touch or two at the rose bush next to it.

His companion just smiled and said nothing, her promise of true communication still lingering at the forefront of Stephen's mind. He would dig up the whole garden thrice over for a chance to speak with people again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen's friendship with Wong and Stephen/Tony.

"What are you thinking of?"

Stephen smiled at Wong's question but it was tinged with sadness. _The Ancient One_ , he answered. _How she baited me into gardening with the promise of communication._

"Ah, that. Not quite what you expected, is it?"

_No, it isn't._ A telepathic bond with a few chosen people - friends - hadn't been on his radar back then but it was so much better than the true silence he'd been caught in before.

"Have you decided yet?"

Wong had been pestering him for ages to find someone else to connect with. After the Ancient One's and Mordo's loss - both of whom he'd taken hard - there was only Wong who could truly speak with Stephen and while Stephen tried to tell himself that he was content with that, Wong grew more and more insistent that he needed other people to communicate with. Stephen had his preferences, of course, but as of now he was hesitant to approach them with such an intimate proposal.

He wanted it to be a friend, yes, but what friendship wasn't all he wanted from his preferred conversation partner. Maybe he could ask Bruce? The guy was nice and they had a nice friendship going.

Wong knew no mercy. "Stark?" he asked. "He would be a good choice. A great go-between us and the Avengers and you actually like the man and he likes you, which is a nice bonus."

Stephen touched the scar on his throat, a nervous habit he just couldn't break, no matter how hard he tried. The idea of actually speaking with Tony without Wong or some convenient technology as a translator was tempting, no use denying that. On the other hand it would fully expose Stephen to the other man and he wasn't sure if he was ready for that. Not after Mordo, not after having spoken - out loud! - to the Ancient One shortly before her death. That one had almost broken him and without Wong's support, as well as his force-feeding him, he would have soon followed her.

_I'm not sure if I can do that_ , he confessed. _I don't want to lose his friendship._ That one was as unexpected as it was treasured.

"You can," Wong insisted. "Don't be stupid. You're practically glowing everytime you're near him and I'm tired of playing translator between you two. I want to be able to get out of the room when you two are together. The sexual tension is killing me since I have no interest in either of you. "

Stephen laughed silently. _Wong!_

"What? I'm right and you know it. Either you send him a message today or I'll speak to him on your behalf. He's just waiting for you, you know?"

Stephen knew, of course he did. Despite all the signs to the contrary he was neither stupid nor naive. Tony's interest was clear, and he was painfully aware of the fact that his own longing was obvious as well, but Stephen was afraid of what might happen if Tony really got to know him; was able to hear Stephen's voice inside of his head.

Losing the others had almost cost him his sanity and his life. The thought of _Tony Stark_ being one of two people who truly knew him was scary beyond imagination.

"Stephen." The bond technically would allow Wong to talk to him silently as well but by Stephen' request he only did it when it was really necessary. "Just send him a message. Yes or no. He's been waiting for weeks and deserves a definitive answer. You deserve this. You can still approach Doctor Banner later."

Damn it. Wong was right. Maybe not with the deserving part but with the rest.

A slight squeeze on his arm as Wong brushed past him on his way to the kitchen. The Cloak, traitor that it was, brought him his phone, the messaging app already open. How the Cloak managed to do more with his phone that Stephen did was a mystery he would probably never solve.

He absently petted the soft fabric, took a deep breath and began to type, still unsure which way to go. His subconscious seemed to know, though, because his eventual message didn't leave much room for doubt:

_> >Hey Tony, are you free tonight? I have something to talk with you about.<<_

The answer came seconds later and was uncharacteristically short and to the point. Damn Tony and his tendency to cut right through the bullshit. Stephen swallowed hard. He had nobody but himself to blame for that.

_> >Will your translator be there?<<_

_> >Not if you don't want him. I thought we could keep it between us. Really talk for the first time.<<_

There it was, the offer was as explicit as he could make it. Now the waiting be…

_> >I can come over right now. Perks of being the boss - I can go whenever I want. Can't wait to hear your voice. I bet it's as lovely as the rest of you. ;)<<_

There was no denying the blush the words caused. The Cloak took the phone out of his hands before he could drop it and Stephen walked over to the diwan in a daze.

In less than an hour he would be able to speak, really speak with Tony. A new voice to connect with, someone who might appreciate his dubious wit even more than Wong.

He still felt sick to his stomach but now it was more anticipation than fear.

_Don't let this be a mistake_ , he begged of the universe some time later, when the Cloak led Tony to him.

"Hey, Stephen." Tony was smiling down at him but there was still a hint of insecurity on his face. "Decision made then?"

Stephen had promised him a definitive answer at their next meeting and then had ran away to Kamar-Taj and into complete silence like the coward he was.

_Yes._ He formed the words with his mouth, keeping his hands folded in his lap to keep the impulse to touch his throat. He'd done away with the thin turtleneck he usually wore under his robes and he put his head back to show off the damage to Tony for the first time.

"Oh", was the eloquent response. "Stephen, I'm…" Tony reached out by instinct but stopped himself before he could touch Stephen. "Sorry, I shouldn't."

_It's okay._ Tony couldn't hear him - not yet, anyway - but he hoped that his expression signaled his consent. They both knew that this was leading not only towards a mental bond for communicating but to something much deeper and it was only fair to show Tony what he would eventually get.

Tony's fingers on his throat, carefully tracing the scars of the accident and the surgeries, felt surprisingly good. After a moment or two he even could relax into the gentle exploration. He half wished that it would end with a kiss but Tony withdrew before that could happen.

"What do I have to do?" he asked softly. "I want to hear your voice, I want to know what you want before this goes any further."

In answer, Stephen touched Tony's temple and silently recited the necessary spell. Tony flinched at the sudden pressure in his mind. _Shh, it's okay. It'll vanish in a few moments_ , Stephen tried to reassure him. _Your mind just needs a moment to adjust._ He hated to cause pain but in this case it was necessary as well as temporary.

"Stephen? What? I can _hear_ you," Tony breathed.

Stephen smiled. _Hello, Tony._

Tony smiled back, still a little bit dazed but obviously happy. "You've got a lovely voice to go with that lovely body of yours."

_If you say so. You're going to hear so much of it that pretty soon you'll beg me to shut up. I like to talk and as Wong can tell you I don't stop talking. Ever._

Tony once again traced the biggest of the scars, the one left behind by the glass that had almost killed him. "He already warned me but I know that I never will," he promised. "Are you okay with this?" He leaned forwards again.

_I thought you'd never ask._

He met Tony halfway for their first kiss.

_One of the positive things is that now we can talk while doing this. Come on, Tony, try it. Talk back to me without using that talented mouth of yours. You'll need it for other things._

Tony's mental voice would need some training but his indignant _Stephen!_ came through loud and clear.

Stephen mentally laughed at him and deepened the kiss.

_Mine now_ , he thought.

Tony's only answer was a deep sense of happiness and a pleased moan.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Kudos (or comments) are treasured beyond words. 🤍 As always, I can be found [here](https://amethyst-noir.tumblr.com).


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